Wednesday, August 1, 2012

I am participating in Vintage Thingie Thursday at ColoradoLady's lovely blog! Be sure to click through to see many more treasures!

Today I'm sharing two very special Depression Glass creamers. Special because, not only have they survived many, many decades of use and display, but they've been handed down through my own and my husband's families - so they've not just survived, they've remained in the same family hands all this time.

The first creamer is a Fenton piece in the Orange Tree pattern. This pattern was introduced in 1911 and was one of Fenton's most popular over the many years it was produced. It features an iridescent finish in the marigold color. Apparently, many footed Fenton pieces of this era suffered damage to the feet, even just coming out of the mold during production. I'm amazed that this piece, which was passed down through the paternal side of my husband's family, has no damage whatsoever - to the feet, the scallops, or anywhere.

The second piece was made by Indiana Glass Company in the Bird & Strawberry pattern, which was introduced around 1916. My grandmother passed this piece to me when I first professed an interest in Depression Glass as a young adult. She told me it had been purchased new by my great-grandmother. Since Great-Grandma had married in 1905, and had children in 1906, 1908 and 1910, I imagined her purchasing this for her young family's breakfast table. It, too, has survived the decades with virtually no damage - a tiny nick in the spout is the only imperfection.

Both of these little creamers have long been retired from daily service and today sit in the built-in hutch in my dining room alongside several other pieces. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to share them!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

I might be obsessing just a bit about dishes this week, but while I was enjoying a few vacation days I made an effort to do a little re-organizing of some of my dinnerware. We have a built-in hutch on one wall of our late-50's dining room (it was probably pretty mod-looking when it was built, but I would love to find a way to shab it up a little) and previously, this unit was displaying some family keepsakes and my Depression Glass. Several of my most recent dishy finds were hiding in a cabinet in the Mom-cave, and I wanted to bring them out so they could be easily accessible.

To accomplish this, I moved all the keepsakes to the top shelf of the hutch, moved the Depression Glass to the more un-accessible side behind the dining table, and used the two remaining half-shelves to make some pretty stacks. Here are some of the goodies now contained in the hutch, right next to the table where they might occasionally get used!

In addition to my lone piece of Franciscan Apple (a beautiful serving platter, which was a wedding gift), there are lots of other lovelies in this small space - most of them thrifted or the result of disciplined eBay bidding. I don't certainly have a collection yet to rival those of my favorite Blogland tablescapers, but I'm working on it! Here are some of my favorites:

Royal China Currier & Ives, here stacked with a plain white/gold-rimmed dessert plate from Pier 1. These were a gift from my grandmother - she gave me complete service for 8, which we had used at family celebrations in her home for more than 20 years as I was growing up. I had also collected a few serving pieces over the years, but after the flood in 2008 I actually down-sized this collection based on what I reasonably expected to use. I now have 8 dinner and 8 bread plates, an oval platter and two round platters, plus a small tab-handled underplate and a lidded casserole dish.

Cunningham & Pickett Norway Rose - two oval platters. Notice how similar they are to the Glenwood! (I've noticed other similarities between various C&P and HL patterns. "Veddy inn-terr-esting," as Arte Johnson used to say.)

Johann Haviland Moss Rose - three dinner plates and four berry bowls.

Set of four un-marked dessert plates.

And my favorite among favorites, Royal Albert Old Country Roses (again layered with the Pier 1 dessert plate). So far I have three dinner plates, three salad plates, two dessert plates, and one cup & saucer. I'm working on acquiring four of each of these pieces, but I'm determined that each and every acquisition will be a great bargain so it's slow-going.

My attempt to re-organize was met with some gentle teasing by Mr. Piglet, who thinks that because we have a three-person family we only need three plates. He doesn't know I am dreaming of the day when I need a dedicated dish room!